Fun and Games

Is the “big ugly dish” dead?

Spoiler alert: Yes. It may have been all the rage when Radio Shack put it on the cover back in 1986, but the C-Band satellite, also known as the “Big Ugly Dish,” is really a thing…




FUN FRIDAY: The world in miniature

Few things out there as cool as a photograph of something really really small. AdaFruit industries recently published a series of what they call “macrophotographs” showing very small things at high magnification. Of course, the photos…



COMMUNICATIONS PIONEERS: Laika the Dog

The first creature to fly through space wasn’t a person. That honor goes to Laika the dog, who was launched into space in 1957, just months after the launch of the first successful artificial satellite. Laika…


FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Download gigabytes at 65mph

You’re driving along at highway speeds and (ahem) your passenger is safely using a mobile device. Perhaps watching a movie, updating an app, crushing a candy, whatever. So let’s get this straight. Since the average range of a…




FUN FRIDAY: Shrek Ragnarok

To be honest, I didn’t much care for the first two Thor movies. I’m not a massive fan of the comic thunder god anyway, and to me it seemed like the imagery was wrong, the tone was wrong,…



FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Speakers

Forget for a minute how the sound gets to your home theater. Forget that it might have traveled a mile in digital form, 80 miles in analog form, or come through a wire with megabits of…


THROWBACK THURSDAY: The channel no one watched

Four seasons and it’s still not solved. Back in February 2014, the world watched in utter boredom as SportsNet LA, known to anyone who cares as “The Dodgers Channel,” launched to absolutely no fanfare whatsoever. The channel, which…


FUN FRIDAY: Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby. If you ever read a comic book or saw a movie about one, you owe a debt to Jack Kirby. Mr. Kirby defined modern comic books over 50 years ago with complex storylines, flawed…